Search This Blog

Start WLAN AutoConfig (WLANSVC Service) On Windows 10 & Windows 7

WLAN AutoConfig service ( WLANSVC ) helps Windows 8 and Windows 7 computers to discover a wireless network (802.11 standards) and connect to it. The same service is used in Vista instead of Wireless Zero Configuration(WZC) in Windows XP. In my personal experience by starting WLAN AutoConfig service instead of vendor wireless utilities on a computer, we can fix most of the wireless connectivity issues. Windows 8, 7 and Vista computers use WLANSVC service to manage wireless networks and you can find it on services window under the display name WLAN Autoconfig. Sometimes WLAN AutoConfig does not start automatically by some strange reasons. So we may need to go to the service page and start this service manually. This tutorial tells how to run it on a computer in different ways.

How to Start WLAN AutoConfig From Services

Type services.msc on Search

Click Services when shows in Search

Right-Click on the WLAN AutoConfig from the list of services listed. You may check the bottom of the list for it

Click Start to run WLAN AutoConfig(WLANSVC Service)

Once you start WLAN AutoConfig(WLANSVC Service) on your computer, it will start to discover available WiFi networks in your area.

How to Start WLAN AutoConfig Service From Command Prompt

You have learned how to run wlansvc service from services window. There is one more method to do it apart from the GUI method. There is a DOS command to activate this service. However, we must have the administrative right to run this command because the DOS prompt must be run as administrator. Here we try the command prompt method to run it on Windows computer (Vista and above) for a particular wireless interface.

After compiling this tutorial I have received inquiries from readers asking what happened to Wireless Zero Configuration (WZC) service in newer versions of Windows Operating Systems. We no longer see WZC on windows 8, Windows 7 and Vista computers because WZC is converted into WLAN AutoConfig service. So if you are looking for steps to find and start WZC (Wireless Zero Config) on Windows 7 and 8 computers, you must start WLAN AutoConfig instead. If you are not using Windows 7 or Windows 8 but running XP on your computer, visit the link below to learn how to find and start WZC.How to Find and Activate Wireless Zero Configuration (WZC) On XP